A city – what is it basically? What makes a city a city? These questions are hard to answer: the ‘city’ is a multifaceted and elusive phenomenon which refuses a straightforward definition. The term is complex and differently defined, with multiple criteria depending on discipline and focus. Taking this into account, Harald Mieg proposed a minimal definition: basic elements of a city are a place, people, buildings, and identity.1
Not only modern but also ancient cities are difficult to grasp conceptionally. This workshop gave attention to this issue and explored the phenomenon of the ancient city in its diversity. Building on Mieg, it focussed on three urban dimensions: materiality, society, and discourses. The workshop aimed to develop an interdisciplinary definition of the ancient city and, at the same time, reflect on this process: is it possible to define the ancient city at all or does the phenomenon transcend all definitional limits? What could a definition look like which contains the lowest common denominator and still considers the complexity of the phenomenon?
The ancient city as an object of research is a classic: starting in the mid-19th century, all disciplines of Classical Studies – Archaeology, History, and Philology – have increasingly dealt with it from their particular point of view. Recent publications focus on various aspects using diverse methods: for example, they examine neighbourhoods and city quarters2, apply evolutionary approaches to urbanism3, or utilise spatial narratology to analyse the literary depiction of cities4. Endeavours to combine these different approaches and perspectives are still remarkably rare although the ancient city can only be appropriately considered in an interdisciplinary dialogue. Therefore, this workshop brought together early career researchers from the neighbouring fields of Classical Studies.
As an introduction, MAXIMILIANE GINDELE (Tübingen) addressed the question what a city is. Starting from the present, she discussed possible definitions and presented the Greek and Latin vocabulary for urban settlements. There is no general definition of ‘city’ as diverse criteria result in varying conceptions. Already ancient authors had pointed to contradictions between architecture, political status, institutions, and inhabitants of a ‘city’.5 SAMUEL OER DE ALMEIDA (Tübingen) reviewed the state of research on the ancient city. He traced the developments within the individual disciplines from the 19th century to the present day and highlighted recent approaches and connecting factors. The complexity of the phenomenon is reflected in a broad spectrum of methods and questions.
Corresponding to the three urban dimensions, the following papers were arranged in three panels, which gradually increased in their level of immateriality.
The first panel focussed on the material dimension of the ancient city: external borders, which were marked and monumentalised in different ways, were an essential urban feature. Inside the cities, the structure, architectural design, and development of urban space were closely linked to political events. GWENAËLLE DEBORDE (Paris) analysed inscribed boundary stones of the imperial period from the province of Dalmatia. These stones, which materialised territorial boundaries, testify to legal disputes between cities and reveal the major role of the Roman governor. MARIUS GAIDYS (Tübingen) examined the northern city gate of Hierapolis in Phrygia and interpreted its architecture in the regional context. The monument, which was designed as an honorary arch, and its placement were linked to the region’s urbanistic boom under the Flavians and communicated the city’s status prominently at its entrance. SAMUEL OER DE ALMEIDA (Tübingen) compared the temple designs of three Pisidian cities in the second century CE. While the temples show individual architectural decisions, their erection coincided with a competitive atmosphere provoked by the integration of the region into the province of Lycia et Pamphylia. BORJA MARTÍN CHACÓN (Barcelona) investigated Iberian elements in Republican cities of the province of Hispania Citerior using archaeological, numismatic, epigraphic, and literary evidence. Apparently, the local population continued to be indigenous and the cities may have become Latin colonies already along with the creation of a particularly Roman cityscape.
In the second panel, the discussion moved on to the interactions and agents within the city: various social groups shaped the urban space with their activities and, at the same time, local urban communities were influenced by external political circumstances. ALESSANDRO PERUCCA (Pisa) addressed the regulation of commercial activities in Classical and Hellenistic cities. The agoranomoi monitored the trade in the agora, while the poleis applied flexible control mechanisms in other urban spaces. ARNAU LARIO DEVESA (Barcelona) traced the interplay of economic activities and urban development in the cities of Roman Hispania, highlighting the human factor: custom and social relationships influenced the city economy, and the urban structure organically adapted to the economic needs of the community. LEDA-SOPHIE MOORS (Regensburg) discussed the localisation of marginalised social groups in the cityscape of imperial Rome. The ancient authors situated lupae, magicians, and temple slaves along the urban outskirts associating certain persons and professions with certain places – and vice versa. ANN LAUREN OSTHOF (Hamburg) explored the visibility of agents in the cityscape of Miletus in Roman Asia Minor based on epigraphic material. The so-called topos-inscriptions, which were carved into several buildings, were a medium of various social strata and developed a local epigraphic habit of structuring the urban space. FLORIAN FEIL (Trier) studied the impact of Roman rule on the city of Same in the second century BCE by analysing a list of theorodokoi6, local hosts for the sacred delegations from Delphi. In the context of Roman expansion, the immigrated Italian M. Cornelius combined networks based on both polis and kinship to successfully engage in urban politics. TOMMASO GRECO (Trento) analysed the conception of ‘city’ in an epigraphically transmitted letter7 from Hadrian to the polis of Naryka in Greece, reviewing recent hypotheses. To confirm its status in the context of the panhellenion, the emperor referred to Naryka’s political-institutional features and literary reputation – and thus presented a kind of city definition.
As the following keynote demonstrated, agency in cities was not limited to humans: GREG WOOLF (Los Angeles) shifted the focus to the objects in the city, applying a materialistic approach to ancient urbanism, and explored the relation between the city as community and urban spaces as assemblage. Looking at the characteristics of the Roman urban network and the evolution of ancient cities8 in a long-term perspective, he observed that micro-cities generally were the most successful form of urban settlements, while extraordinary cities reflected moments of political transformation. Then, he turned to the mobility of objects and discussed the flows of material and manufactures. The relation between the mobility of people and goods was complex: there were one-way and circulating, short- and long-distance movements. Overall, mobility tended to be local or regional9 and the longer the Roman empire lasted, the lesser things were moving. Finally, he outlined what an object-centred account of Roman urbanism would look like: cities were sites of accumulation, hyper-assemblages, and places of variety, where things were deposited, stored, and recycled. Thus, the circulation of objects was slowed down, and the cities essentially functioned as decelerators.
The third and last panel investigated how the city was conceptionalised and negotiated in written sources: literary discourses referred to elements of urbanity to communicate political messages and frame identities. ANTONIA LAKNER (Tübingen) studied the elite discourse on masses in Greek cities of the imperial period, starting with remarks about demagogues in Classical Athens. Dio Chrysostom and Philo characterised the ideal demos as calm and non-violent and emphasised the power of the people depicting them as an independent urban entity. STEFANO CARLO SALA (St Andrews) read Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Roman Antiquities as evidence and narrative to understand how he described the monuments of early Rome. The Augustan author, who was aware of urbanistic changes but interested in architectural continuity, often mixed temporal layers and created a timeless cityscape. MAXIMILIANE GINDELE (Tübingen) examined Ovid’s description of the Stygia urbs, a fictive city in the underworld10, and its relation to Augustan Rome, combining a spatial-narratological analysis with a historical interpretation of the text. The Stygian city contained basic urban elements, reflected the real Roman architecture and society, and was part of a critical discourse on the Augustan Principate. SIMON GRUND (Tübingen) traced the literary portrayal of Rome in Ovid’s exile poetry, analysing strategies of place-making in his Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto. Banned to Tomis, a counter-place to the capital in every respect, the author evoked the lost city, his ‘heimat’, which was closely linked to his own identity – for Ovid, there was no place like Rome because there was no place like home. ROGIER VAN DER HEIJDEN (Freiburg) discussed how Gerasa and Sardis constructed their urban identities in the imperial period. The cities utilised epithets, local myths, and (imperial) history to shape civic mentalities and showcase their past and present significance.
The final discussion brought all these close-ups together and reflected on a meta-level what characterised the ancient city and how the phenomenon can be defined. Initially, the participants considered essential characteristics: boundaries, constituting a distinctive feature, marked the urban space but were fluid and permeable, as suburban areas and the gradual transition to the countryside demonstrate. The ancient city can be conceived as a density of places, agents, and attributions. It is characterised by complexity and the potential to be more than the sum of its parts. Yet, ‘city’ is a relative category, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Moreover, the detailed ancient vocabulary for urban settlements differs from the present collective noun. Finally, the participants reached the consensus that the term ‘city’, despite its difficulties, should still be used to facilitate communication but only in awareness of its complexity and the plurality of perspectives.
In sum, the workshop offered a cross-section through current topics, important questions, and new approaches in the recent research on ancient cities. The case studies moved through the entire Mediterranean, from Hispania to the Levant, and covered the period from the fifth century BCE to the third century CE. Despite this broad geographical and temporal range, almost all focussed on cities in the imperium Romanum. The papers mirrored the diversity of the phenomenon which is entangled with numerous other aspects of the ancient world. This emphasised that the study of ancient cities is – and should always be – an interdisciplinary enterprise.
In view of the phenomenon’s complexity, there cannot be a universally valid definition of the ancient city. Rather, a plurality of situational definitions is necessary: what an ancient city is has to be redefined for every case adapting to the specific material, context, and question. This calls for a pragmatic use of the term ‘city’ while continuously reflecting, reassessing, and rediscussing its meaning, which will lead to a more nuanced terminological handling and a more differentiated discourse. Thus, the potential of the workshop lies in raising awareness of how important a discussion about the conceptualisation of ‘city’ is. The task of future studies will be to adopt and evaluate its methodical proposal. Ideally, the conscious decision for multiple and, at the same time, more specific definitions will contribute to a better understanding of ancient cities.
Conference Overview:
Introduction
Richard Posamentir (Tübingen) / Marisa Köllner (Tübingen): Welcome
Maximiliane Gindele (Tübingen) / Samuel Oer de Almeida (Tübingen): Introduction
Panel 1 Materiality: Boundaries and Buildings
Chair: Richard Posamentir (Tübingen)
Gwenaëlle Deborde (Paris): Defend the Territory. Legal and Historical Study of Judicial Boundary Stones in Western Roman Cities between the 1st and the 3rd Centuries
Marius Gaidys (Tübingen): Roman Honorary Arches as City Gates. Change of the City, Change of Perspective?
Samuel Oer de Almeida (Tübingen): Rival Cities and Urban Splendour in Roman Pisidia: Designing Temples in the 2nd Century CE
Borja Martín Chacón (Barcelona): Roman Cities, Indigenous Population, Latin Colonies? Urban Transformation in Northeastern Hispania Citerior during the 2nd – 1st Centuries BCE
Panel 2 Society: Interactions and Agents
Chair: Mischa Meier (Tübingen) / Robert Kirstein (Tübingen)
Alessandro Perucca (Pisa): Inside Out. Trade, Urban Spaces and Institutional Control in the Ancient Greek City
Arnau Lario Devesa (Barcelona): Urban Topography and Economic Development in Hispania: A Study of Socioeconomic Interactions in the Roman City
Leda-Sophie Moors (Regensburg): When in Rome. Marginalised Groups in the Context of the Early Imperial City’s Topography
Ann Lauren Osthof (Hamburg): Topos-Inscriptions Mirroring Ancient Societies within the Cityscape of Miletus
Florian Feil (Trier): M. Cornelius and the Roman Polis of Same, Kephallenia, in the Early Second Century BCE
Tommaso Greco (Trento): What is a Hadrianic City? Elements of a City Model from a Letter to Naryka (SEG LI, 641) and Beyond
Keynote
Greg Woolf (Los Angeles): The City and the City: The City of Things in the Roman World
Panel 3 Discourses: Literature and Identities
Chair: Mischa Meier (Tübingen)
Antonia Lakner (Tübingen): Blinded by Plato? The People and the Imperial Poleis
Stefano Carlo Sala (St Andrews): Time and Space in Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Depiction of Rome
Maximiliane Gindele (Tübingen): Urbanising the Underworld: The Stygian City in Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Simon Grund (Tübingen): ‘There’s No Place Like Rome’ – Urban Identities in Ovid’s Exile Poetry
Rogier van der Heijden (Freiburg): Peer Pressure, Status, and Identity: Discourses of Civic Histories in the Greek Cities of the Roman Empire
Conclusion
Chair: Maximiliane Gindele (Tübingen) / Samuel Oer de Almeida (Tübingen)
Final Discussion
Notes:
1 Harald A. Mieg, Einleitung: Perspektiven der Stadtforschung, in: Harald A. Mieg / Christoph Heyl (ed.), Stadt. Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch, Stuttgart et al. 2013, p. 1–14, here p. 9.
2 Annette Haug / Adrian Hielscher / Anna-Lena Krüger (ed.), Neighbourhoods and City Quarters in Antiquity. Design and Experience, Decor 7, Berlin et al. 2023.
3 Greg Woolf, The Life and Death of Ancient Cities. A Natural History, Oxford 2020.
4 Torben Behm, Städte in Ovids Metamorphosen. Darstellung und Funktion einer literarischen Landschaft, Hypomnemata 212, Göttingen 2022.
5 E.g. Thuc. 1.10.1–2; Liv. 40.5.7; Str. 3.4.13; Tac. Hist. 1.84.4; Paus. 10.4.1; Aristid. 3.298–300, 23.68.
6 Edited by André Plassart, Inscriptions de Delphes. La liste des théorodoques, in: Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 45 (1921), p. 1–85.
7 SEG LI, 641.
8 Cf. Woolf, Ancient Cities.
9 Cf. Greg Woolf, Movers and Stayers, in: Luuk de Ligt / Laurens E. Tacoma (ed.), Migration and Mobility in the Early Roman Empire, Studies in Global Social History 23, Leiden 2016, p. 438–461.
10 Ov. Met. 4.432–446.